Sometimes in local government meetings – from school boards to county commissions – no public comment is allowed.

It may seem strange, but the purpose of Oregon’s public meetings law is “to ensure that the decisions of governing bodies are arrived at openly. However, the right of public attendance guaranteed by the law does not include the right to participate by public testimony or comment,” according to the state’s public records and meetings manual. There may be other legal requirements for certain decisions where public comment is required to be allowed. But the bottom line is: At public meetings, there is no requirement in Oregon that the public be allowed to comment.

For instance, when the Deschutes County Commission made the initial 2-1 decision to eliminate a staff committee spearheading diversity, equity and inclusion, it allowed no public comment on the issue at that meeting. It didn’t have to.

Bills from state Rep. Kim Wallan, R-Medford, are about requiring that some public comment be allowed, as she explained on Monday. House Bill 3883 requires public bodies provide for a period of public comment at the start of each meeting. House Bill 3887 defines “work sessions” and requires public bodies to allow public comment at meetings where they will take a vote.

And who had problems with those ideas? Lobbyists representing city governments, special districts and school boards in Oregon offered testimony with concerns about the bills.

One concern was that only committees with elected officials should be required to listen to public comment. But advisory committees that don’t have elected officials on them also make important recommendations to elected officials, too. Why should they be exempted?

Another recommendation brought up was that there be a requirement that the comments be germane to the matters on the agenda. Sometimes people just want to be heard on issues that aren’t on the agenda that they want to draw a body’s attention to. Public comment can be a mix of useful, illuminating testimony and the wacky. But there are other ways to get information in front of committees than public comments, such as email.

One last concern raised was about the length of time allowed for public comment. It does need to be of “reasonable duration.” And that’s what the bills say, which of course will lead to disputes over what is reasonable. We don’t think, though, that the Legislature should dictate that.

Residents in Deschutes County are mostly spoiled with government bodies routinely allowing public comment at public meetings, when they don’t have to. It’s only notable when they don’t. These bills would help guarantee they do it.